Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

'Alternative' Medicine Becoming Mainstream

Date:

November 13, 1998

Source:

University of Florida

Summary:

Health-care teachers are getting massages, learning relaxation techniques and trying other unconventional treatments at about the same rate as the general population, University of Florida researchers report.

Share This

Related Articles

GAINESVILLE, Fla.---Traditional medical providers may have a reputation for shunning alternative therapies, but health-care teachers are getting massages, learning relaxation techniques and trying other unconventional treatments at about the same rate as the general population, University of Florida researchers report.

In a written survey of physicians, nurses, dentists and other health professionals on UF's faculty, 52 percent of the 764 respondents said they had tried an alternative treatment. An earlier survey found the same percentage of Florida residents had done so.

The results, published as a letter in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (11/11/98), add to the growing evidence that so-called "alternative" medicine is rapidly heading into the mainstream.

"With this survey, we've learned that health science faculty are pretty much like anyone else when it comes to their own health," said Dr. Allen Neims, a professor of pharmacology and former dean of UF's College of Medicine. "This is significant, because they are the role models and teachers of the next generation of health-care professionals."

Neims authored the letter with Mary Ann Burg and Shae Kosch in the College of Medicine's department of community health and family medicine, and Eleanor Stoller, of Case Western Reserve University.

This week's JAMA is devoted to research on nontraditional health practices, collectively known as alternative, complementary or integrative medicine. Such therapies are not routinely taught in U.S. medical schools or practiced in the mainstream American medicine, and havenot been established as safe and effective by rigorous scientific scrutiny.

Neims and Burg see JAMA's interest as a sign of how important physicians are beginning to view the topic.

"I think physicians now know that their patients are using massage and dietary supplements and that they're going to chiropractors," Burg said. "So physicians have to figure out how to deal with a group of techniques they probably don't have any training in and which to date have little scientific evidence to demonstrate their effectiveness."

About half of U.S. medical schools, including UF, offer elective courses on alternative therapies, Neims said. At UF, some required courses include discussion of the topic. Additionally, a UF family practice clinic offers acupuncture, massage therapy, hypnosis and relaxation techniques.

"There is a tremendous amount of individuality in how integrative treatments are presented to students by the faculty," Neims said. "Some include quite a bit of information and others are quite resistant to it, seeing it as a step backwards scientifically. While there is room for both views within the college, I hope this study gives people a little moresense of permission to teach these things. Teaching about them does not have to be an endorsement."

One hurdle in integrating alternative therapies into mainstream medicine is that mainstream and alternative practitioners have different ideas about what causes health problems, Burg said.

"In traditional Chinese medicine, which includes acupuncture and herbal therapy, they think in terms of 'chi,' which is a kind of life force, a body energy," Burg said. "There is some research showing that acupuncture does a good job relieving pain and other problems, but there is no logical explanation within Western medicine for that."

In a written questionnaire mailed to 1,300 UF health faculty members, 32 percent of those who responded said they had used massage, 24 percent relaxation techniques, 23 percent dietary supplements and 16 percent chiropractic. Less than 10 percent of the faculty reported using herbs,acupuncture, hypnosis, homeopathic remedies or biofeedback. Women facultymembers were significantly more likely than men to have tried alternativetherapies.

Faculty from the colleges of Health Professions and Nursing were the highest users of alternative medicine-at 76 and 74 percent, respectively. Of College of Medicine respondents, 52 percent had used alternative medicine. "Nurses have been doing a lot more research on alternativemedicine for a much longer time than people in the other health professions," Burg said. "Nursing traditionally has been a holistic, patient-oriented profession, which fits in well with the culture of a many alternative therapies."

Neims noted that like the American population in general, health facultyare turning to nontraditional measures to maximize health, not to replace traditional, Western medicine. Many people are exploring new forms of treatment because they fit well with their philosophy of a mind-body connection. They also are seeking a personal relationship that may be difficult to forge in the typical physician office.

"If you regularly see a massage therapist or chiropractor, that can turn into a deep relationship with healing qualities of its own," Neims said. "One of the things I hope results from this interest in integrative medicine is that we all reaffirm that the relationship between patient and physician is very, very important."

Mar. 31, 2015  Increasing state alcohol taxes could prevent thousands of deaths a year from car crashes, say researchers, who found alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes decreased after taxes on beer, wine and ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Alcoholism takes a toll on every aspect of a person's life, including skin problems. Now, a new research report helps explain why this happens and what might be done to address it. "The clinical ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A new population of 'memory' immune cells has been discovered by scientists, throwing light on what the body does when it sees a microbe for the second time. This insight, and others like it, will ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Coronary heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States, are diseases associated with heightened platelet reactivity. A new study in humans suggests an underlying ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A new study had researchers seeking answers to why the therapeutic benefit afforded by SSRIs was so limited in children and teenagers. If researchers can uncover the biological mechanisms preventing ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A drug being developed to treat osteoporosis may also be useful for treating osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease, a rare but potentially debilitating bone disorder that that is present ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  It is possible to quantify and classify the effects of different diseases on the activity of intestinal bacteria, new research demonstrates for the first time. Human intestinal flora, known as ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  During prenatal development, the brains of most animals, including humans, develop specifically male or female characteristics. But scientists have known little about the details of how this ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A history of depression may put women at risk for developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to research. This study also pointed to how common depression is during pregnancy and the need for ... full story

Featured Videos

Solitair Device Aims to Takes Guesswork out of Sun Safety

Reuters - Innovations Video Online (Mar. 31, 2015)  The Solitair device aims to take the confusion out of how much sunlight we should expose our skin to. Small enough to be worn as a tie or hair clip, it monitors the user&apos;s sun exposure by taking into account their skin pigment, location and schedule. Matthew Stock reports.
Video provided by Reuters

Soda, Salt and Sugar: The Next Generation of Taxes

Washington Post (Mar. 30, 2015)  Denisa Livingston, a health advocate for the Dinι Community Advocacy Alliance, and the Post&apos;s Abby Phillip discuss efforts around the country to make unhealthy food choices hurt your wallet as much as your waistline.
Video provided by Washington Post

S. Leone in New Anti-Ebola Lockdown

AFP (Mar. 28, 2015)  Sierra Leone imposed a three-day nationwide lockdown Friday for the second time in six months in a bid to prevent a resurgence of the deadly Ebola virus. Duration: 01:17
Video provided by AFP

Related Stories

Feb. 11, 2015  A new study has found that teachers who report having more symptoms of depression had classrooms that were of lesser quality, and that students in these classrooms had fewer performance gains. ... full story

Feb. 27, 2014  People with learning (intellectual) disabilities have a lower life expectancy than the general population and are more likely to suffer physical disabilities and chronic conditions. A new article ... full story

Nov. 14, 2012  Are you one of those people who can’t sit still? A researcher has developed a questionnaire to explore the physical, cognitive and social issues surrounding the anxiety related to kicking back a ... full story

July 4, 2011  Massage therapy helps ease chronic back pain and improve function, according to results of a randomized controlled trial. The first study to compare structural and relaxation (Swedish) massage, the ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.